Churchill Brothers will miss their No 1 striker Okolie Odafa in the IFA Shield semi-final. But coach Carlos Silva appears unperturbed. The Brazilian coach is likely to go with a 4-5-1 formation with Durga Boro as the lone striker. Churchill will face Air India at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (YBK) on Tuesday.

Odafa, who received his second yellow card of the tournament in their last match and will be out, suspended, however, is pretty upset to miss the semi-final. “It’s a real disappointment, but this football. And even without me, we have enough quality to win,” he said.

Silva, on the other hand, wants mix caution with aggression. “Air India is a tough opponent. They have some very good young players who fight till the end. We got to take control of the midfield,” he said.

The newly-laid synthetic turf of the YBK appears to be concern among the players. “The ball will run faster. Physical fitness will be the key,” said Odafa. Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra also said that he was a tad apprehensive that the players might pick up injuries. “We have already ordered special kind of boots for the players needed for synthetic turf,” he said. Meanwhile, Churchill has managed to rope in a sponsor, a Kerala-based company, for this season.

No battle of sexes please, says referee
They set the stage, invited the parties, but the referees played spoilsport. A local club in Jalpaiguri arranged a football match between all men and all women’s XI. But the referee and his assistants didn’t agree to officiate resulting in the postponement of the match, much to the dismay of a packed stadium.